Since it is nearby, there’s no excuse for not going… and it was Rachel’s 40th! We had a special dinner at the exclusive Napa Rose restaurant, which is everything it’s cracked up to be. Rachel is looking mighty fine, no?

I am a Disney skeptic. I’ve read all kinds of terrible things about Disney corp, how they treat their employees, and their business practices. I didn’t grow up idolizing the disney movies, and I’m not a huge fan of mediated entertainment of this order. I kind of expected the sign over the gate to read “Arbeit macht frei” (It actually reads: “Here you leave the world of today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy” ).

I have to admit, the place is much more tasteful than I expected. The rides are fun/inventive and the grounds beautiful. We had a good time! There are enough pictures of the place on-line that I’m not going to post very many, but I recommend going (when the weather is cool, if possible). It’s an American institution, after all.

The California screamer roller coaster is the only “serious” ride, I think, in terms of high g-force. There is a new coaster themed after the movie “Cars” that is pretty exciting, as well. There are some smaller coasters that are also fun – magic mountain, of course, and a kiddie roller coaster themed after Donald Duck which was also fun. Not all of the most fun rides are scary – the big Ferris wheel is great, as is the gentle jellyfish ride, probably classified as “wild but mild.” I lkied seeing Rachel enjoy the place and I liked all of the cute kids who were apoplectic with excitement (let’s not talk about the screaming ones with glazed doughnut faces who were having meltdowns).